and it continues..

Soo I was wrong when I thought the plane ride was the worst part of this journey. Try getting off, waiting for your bag for almost an hour only to find it didn’t come on the plane. I am so pissed at that Delta agent in DC who condescendingly called me “honey” like he was some sort of airline god who could figure it all out for me. I knew it was risky about the bag and he shot down all my concerns.. but guess what, no bag! So I wait in line with Alitalia who tell me that it is on the next Delta flight. When is that, I ask. They don’t know, I have to ask Delta. Next counter. “Alitalia said my bag is on the next flight and that maybe I can wait here for it.” Someone takes me back to a room, “is this your bag?” “Nope.” “Then it isn’t here and there are no more flights today so it is not coming today”. Back to Alitalia to file a claim. They give me the actual Delta flight number so that I can get specific whereabouts of my bag, but of course I need to take that number to Delta to figure it all out. They say that flight arrives tomorrow morning, so I ask if that means that it will be delivered in Florence by the afternoon? “I don’t know!” she says. “We get the bag and give it to Alitalia and they take it to Florence for you, that is up to them. You need to ask them.” Well I’m done with the counter hopping here at baggage services and finally hours later leave the baggage claim area. Now it’s to find internet so I can access my email to get ASA’s phone number. First internet kiosk takes my money, but surprise, surprise does not work. So I try to call and get the number and end up with a general number, which is closed when I call, even though it is past 8 am at this point on the east coast. So I try to find another internet kiosk to look up hostels and a more specific phone number. This one luckily works much better, but the graphic heavy hostelworld website does not load well and I spend most of the time/money waiting. Still no solution. I did however get a number and called the NY office, but the HR director was not available. I leave a message, trying to relay the urgency of the situation since I’m pretty much just sitting in limbo in the Fiumicino airport. 30 minutes later, no call, and I’ve wandered over to look at train tickets. The only ones listed are super expensive express trains and I know the system well enough to know that I could take regionals if I just knew the route. But then comes the question as to weather I should get on the train or not, still waiting for that call. Should I stay in Rome, go to Florence, or go back to my original plan? I decide against the original plan because it adds way too much travel time and I feel I can’t be social with my couchsurfer since I’m just so exhausted. I just want to crawl into a dark and quiet closet, that preferably has wifi, so I can plan the next leg of this trip so it doesn’t turn out like this one.

After more waiting and random calls to people in the US without getting anything accomplished, I decide its time to get out of this airport at all costs, so to Rome it is, either as a stop over or for the night. So now to find the cheapest way, since I don’t have the regional schedule in front of me and I’m not about to pay 14 euro for the stupid not-so-express express train (it is hardly any faster). I remember seeing something about a bus so I try to find that, only to get asked 59385 times if I need a taxi and then for some bus driver to tell me its 35 euro for the bus but that he can give me a discount to 25 if I want. Yeah right, I told him the train costs a lot less than that, but he counters, saying it takes longer. Whatever, I finally leave and find a tourist desk, ask what is the cheapest way to Rome, and get a 8 euro bus ticket for a bus leaving immediately. See, I knew it was possible! The only downside to that transaction was when I tried to pay with a 20 and she got all pissy asking me if I had spicci. Are you kidding me!? I just went to the ATM and this is what it gave me, and 12 euro isn’t even that much change. So you’re going to take my money!

Besides this annoying, yet expected, transaction I’ve gotten a lot of stares and need to remember not to make eye contact. This isn’t America after all and I can’t have anyone following me home tonight. Oh yeah I also forgot the disappointing state of public restrooms here.. Needless to say it has not been the most pleasant morning. I just want to go to bed.